Retaining Wall Project
Hockessin, DE.

Retaining Wall

When we first arrived at the clients home in Hockessin, DE, we saw a landscaping company had originally installed a retaining wall with four inch thick home store improvement blocks. Nothing against home stores, but the right size for the application needed is very relevant to all landscaping and retaining wall projects.

The previous landscaping contractor had no idea of the complexities that go into a retaining wall design such as:

The correct base material

Proper block depth

Backfill filtering stone to relieve hydrostatic pressure and other factors.

Look for NCMA Certification

Retaining walls are a lot more than just stacked block, there are many factors that go into choosing a retaining wall to solve landscaping grade changes. NCMA or National Concrete Masonary Association has the world's guidelines for correct retaining wall installation. If your landscaping contractor is not certified by NCMA, chances are very high that your retaining wall WILL FAIL!

Retaining Wall Blocks

All of the original retaining wall blocks had fallen over after a few years of water and soil pressure pushing against the back of the wall.

The retaining wall Pro Image Landscaping built for this client was about three feet high with a decorative cap. EP Henry 8" wall block were used in this landscaping because of it's functionality and low cost.

Building the New Retaining Wall

The purpose of the new retaining wall was to gain more yard space by removing the soil from the hill area and using a retaining wall system to stabilize and secure the hill without pressure buildup. In this retaining wall installation, ¾" clean stone is encased in a geotextile fabric to let water move through and keep sediment out of the wall area. Without this feature the wall will eventually collapse. So in a retaining wall system the most important feature is not the block but what is behind it that counts.

A Smart Landscaping Investment

When Pro Image comleted this retaining wall rebuild, we gained an additional fifteen feet of backyard space. At the same time we constructed a beautiful and simple retaining wall that will provide an added value to the home of twice the cost of the installation.

Now that's how to invest in your landscaping, where as with the other contractor, it was money wasted.